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Things should have been easy once she fell in love. Or even if there had been rough patches, the love they shared would have made it worth fighting for. But this situation didn’t offer that option.
Which just wasn’t fair.
Why had God allowed this to happen? Why was He testing her like this?
She may have passed the test, but it had come at a high cost.
And Kayleigh knew she’d never be the same for having faced it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
It was five o’clock in the morning, and Hudson was still reeling from everything that had happened that night. The fire had been the first time he’d already been on scene when an incident had occurred at a Remington location.
It wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with the aftermath of something like that, but being present when it happened added a whole new layer of stress.
“Hudson? What’s happened?” Alexander sounded alert and awake when he answered Hudson’s call, but that wasn’t surprising since it was eight in the morning in New York. He’d probably been up for a couple of hours already.
Hudson stood at the window, staring out at the night sky. “There’s been a fire here at the resort.”
Alexander muttered an expletive. “How did that happen?”
Over the next few minutes, Hudson once again gave the man a report on what had happened at the resort. He shared what he knew about the fire and the initial thoughts about the cause being arson.
“Okay. I’m going to send a couple of people to deal with the guests and the insurance side of things. This is far more serious than the theft of a tablet or laptop. I want to get ahead of things.”
Hudson agreed that was probably a good idea. This catastrophe was something that had the potential of spinning out of control and seriously damaging the reputation of the hotel.
After talking a bit further about the logistics of the incoming Remington team, their conversation ended.
With that taken care of, Hudson’s thoughts turned to the part of the night he hadn’t shared with Alexander. The kiss…
He’d stood by Kayleigh as she’d dealt with the fire, and he’d willingly done what she’d asked of him. Because he’d seen how stressed she was and knew that it was the first time she’d dealt with something like that, Hudson had been more than happy to help her. Because she was important to him, and he wanted to support her however she needed him to.
But after everything had quieted down, and it had just been the two of them, things had taken an unexpected turn. An amazing turn, as far as he’d been concerned.
He’d thought that Kayleigh felt the same. She hadn’t pulled away from the kiss. In fact, she’d held him as tightly as he’d held her.
It had seemed like a significant moment for them. A step forward in their relationship. Perhaps they should have had a conversation before kissing, but it had happened in an emotionally charged moment.
Still, it had felt right. Like a natural progression to what had been building between them. Things might have been done a little out of order, but he’d felt like a conversation would quickly get them back on track.
But then Kayleigh had thrown cold water over everything when she’d rejected him.
At first, he’d thought she was rejecting the kiss, given how and when it happened. But then she’d run from him, ignoring him when he’d called after her.
And now, he was exhausted and disheartened. But Hudson held out hope that they might still be able to have a conversation about what had transpired.
First, though, he needed to get some sleep.
Actually, first, he needed to send an email to Kayleigh to let her know that Alexander was sending a team to work with the guests, and that he wanted to be present at any meetings they scheduled.
He kept it professional, even though a part of him really wanted to ask her if they could meet to discuss what had happened between them. However, she already had a lot on her plate, and the last thing he wanted was to add more stress to what she was already dealing with.
Once all that was taken care of, Hudson set his phone on the nightstand next to the bed, making sure its volume was turned up. He also set an alarm for ten o’clock, figuring if the team from headquarters left New York within the next couple of hours, they’d be arriving in Coeur d’Alene at eleven at the earliest, which meant they’d be at the resort around noon.
Hudson would need to deal with them once they arrived, so whether Kayleigh liked it or not, they were going to have to be around each other as they met with the team and the guests to get everything sorted out.
Though he hadn’t been sure he’d be able to fall sleep, apparently he’d been tired enough, because the next thing he knew, his alarm was going off. Before even getting out of bed, he checked his email and clicked on the message from Caleb, which included the itinerary for the jet.
